My throat tightened.
I turned to the principal.
“What… what is this?”
His eyes were red.
“It started this morning.”
“What are you talking about?”
He nodded toward a girl sitting a few rows behind Andrew.
“Laura came back to school today. She’d been out for a few days.”
A small girl sat there, hands folded neatly.
“That’s the girl your husband saved,” he added.
My breath caught.
“I see.”
“Laura saw what was happening to your son. She heard what the other kids were saying.”
He paused, then continued through tears.
“She sat with Andrew at lunch. Asked him about the shoes. Andrew told her everything. She realized who he was… and that those weren’t just shoes. They were the last thing his dad gave him.”
